This species inhabits mucky areas in bottomland forests near springs, swamps, cypress heads, mud-bottomed streams, floodplain pools, and ravine streams where pockets of organic debris collect; usually in or near moving water. Its environment is usually acidic. Individuals often hide under leaves, logs, or debris or in burrows during day. Eggs are laid under or in logs or in depressions under moss or other cover near water. The larvae develop in water.

This species was previously considered to range from southeastern Virginia to central Florida, west to eastern Texas in the Coastal Plain, USA (Means 1999). This species is now restricted to east of the Mississippi River. Records that were previously recognized as this species from west of the Mississippi River into Texas have been reallocated to Desmognathus contanti, although they likely represent an undescribed species (D. Beamer pers. comm. June 2021). Additionally, records that were previously recognized as this species in Mississippi and Louisiana have now been reallocated to D. valentinei (Means et al. 2017). This species has not been seen in southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle since the 1970s , despite extensive surveying. It is therefore considered to be extirpated from those areas (T. Pierson pers. comm. June 2021). Beamer and Lamb (2020) found that the subpopulations sampled in their study were not recovered as a genealogically exclusive group. The clade they designated as auriculatus A is thought to represent an undescribed species, and is therefore retained as "Presence Uncertain" on the map. This encompasses records from south of the Ogeechee River in Georgia, to at least the Suwanee River drainage in Florida (Beamer and Lamb 2020, D. Beamer pers. comm. June 2021).

Conservation Actions In-Place
Many protected areas overlap with this species' distribution. In an effort to prevent the introduction of Bsal into the US, an Interim Rule of the Lacey Act has been enacted that bans the importation of 201 species of salamanders (USFWS 2016). Additionally, a temporary voluntary trade moratorium of imports of Asian salamander species that are known to carry the disease until such time as effective testing and treatment regimens can be developed and distributed has been recommended to all exporters, shippers, sellers and buyers by the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC). A North America Bsal Task Force has also been created, with working groups designed to address a variety of disease prevention and mitigation goals (North America Bsal Task Force 2021).

Conservation Actions Needed
Important conservation measures include protection and maintenance of mature bottomland hardwood forests. 

Research Needed
Research is needed in population size and trends, as well as the nature and severity of threats.